We blew away the competition! Kuwait is officially the country with the highest surplus as a % of GDP in the world! Kuwait is in the lead with a whopping above 40%, miles ahead of the country in second place, Saudi Arabia, which is at 25%!!

From AlQabas today -

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Im surprised at Trinidad & Tobago being 4th, and at Lebanon being the 3rd worst in the world!

My question is, how did they come to these estimates? and what are the actual 2005 figures so we can compare?

This comes a day after the City of Silk press conference and announcement, which I personally think is a huge PR campaign, since its something that has been talked about for more than 4 months (link 1 link 2) but was pushed aggresively recently, to show it as an achievement for the new government!
Anyway, lets hope these estimates come true, and even though we got that only bcz of our oil, and not bcz of any special planning by our government, now there should be more pressure on the government to do some radical changes in Kuwait’s infrasturcture that will be effective for generations to come!

I was thinking the other day about ambition (الطموح), it really is a funny concept!

I tried to put my ambitions on something like a timeline, starting from my childhood to now ….

1. When I was a kid, my ambition was to rule the world! Im not even kidding here! I really wanted to control the world at some point, and I set up some sort of system and plans for when that happens.
2. After growing up a bit, I realized that my ambition was a bit overambitious and that it wont happen. At this stage I started to think about how instead of ruling the world, I want to be someone who left a mark in this world. I remember thinking that I dont want to live and die like every other person in the world, 7aaly 7aal a farmer in some deserted Russian town who noone ever heard of or will ever hear of! My ambition at this stage was to do something good and be remembered for it for years to come.
3. I grew up a bit more and then even that ambition faded. I still had great ambitions, but nothing like the previous ones! After studying and graduating, I decided that I wanted to do something to help Kuwait! I love my country, and always did, but when I was younger I believed my effect will be global, but realized that it aint gonna happen, so geographically, my ambition went from whole world to a tiny spot in the world.
4. Now even that ambition has slowly started to disappear! My ambitions now revolve around trying to make enough money and to live happily and raise a good family. Its not a bad, but what a difference from where I started! When I realized that I reached this stage and got depressed at how my ambition has gone from great to average! There is no difference between me and the Russian farmer who also wants to make money and raise a family at this stage, he’s on the field, im on a desk.
5. Whats even more depressing is that after this stage, there will come a final stage where the money and raising a family will disappear and it will go down to just hoping to live, with good health!

Why has my ambition decreased so dramatically as time passed!? I don’t like where it is right now! It cant be a midlife crisis because Im too young for that, I should be at least 10 yrs away from that!

How can I change that? I cant just decide to stop working and travel to some African country and help people! I have to support my family and so on….

Im trapped in this corporate money making world of ours! Money has become our #1 priority by far! There is no way out!

سموه استقبل عددا من الوفود والشخصيات المهنئة ولي العهد:

متفائلون بنقلة اقتصادية كبرى

AlQabas Article

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كم مرة سمعنا هالجملة في آخر سنتين؟؟

منو فيكم شاف هالنقلة؟

صارلنا أربع سنين فوائض مالية! سوينا شي؟؟

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طوفولي … يمكن طفران شوي! السوق على ويهه و الجماعة يدلدغون بعض و كلام فاضي ينقال نفسه كل اسبوع مرتين

Are you a Muslim? Do you wants to be a stylish Muslim?? Do you want to be a stylish Muslim who is comfortable while praying??

The solution for all your problems is here!

CNN’s article

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New jeans let Muslims stay comfortable

ROME, Italy (AP) — They’re high around the waist, wide around the leg and have lots of pockets for holding watches, bracelets, glasses and other knick-knacks.

A new line of jeans designed by a small company in northern Italy caters to Muslims seeking to stay comfortable while they pray.

“As far as we know we’re the first, at least in Italy,” said Luca Corradi, who designed Al Quds jeans.

The bagginess is to ensure the wearer avoids stiffness while bending down repeatedly during prayers. The pockets are for holding all the accessories Muslims have to take off while they worship. And the jeans have green seams — because green is the sacred color of Islam.

Al Quds representatives said a year of research and testing went into the product, with models being asked to try different versions of the jeans while they prayed.

Abdel Hamid Shaari, president of the Islamic Cultural Institute in Milan, said low-priced jeans specifically designed to keep Muslims comfortable could open up a big market in Islamic countries and countries with large Muslim populations.

“This could be a good idea, thinking of the comfort,” said Shaari, who used to be a production manager for Italy’s Carrera jeans.

“About 90 percent of Muslims, aside from a niche that wants Armani and other top designer-jeans, generally seek jeans that are both resistant and comfortable and not expensive,” he said.

Shaari, who is originally from Libya, said Muslims in Tunisia and other North African countries generally wear established brands of jeans or imitations. He said “normal jeans indeed can be slightly stiff to pray and kneel in.”

Al Quds — the Arabic name for Jerusalem — has produced an initial 9,500 pairs that it sold to the French retailer Carrefour SA. The retailer has sold an initial batch of about 50 pairs of jeans at a low promotional price of €18.90 ($22.53) in its centers in Italy, company officials said. Corradi said the regular price would be €25 ($30.44).

Officials at Carrefour and Al Quds said there was no way to know whether Muslims had bought the jeans.

‘Right path’

Al Quds, based in Udine, hopes to make an impact first among Italy’s 1.1 million Muslims. If successful, it will reach out to the estimated 18 million Muslims living in Europe.

The company’s Web site advertises the jeans as “a new expression for an old tradition.”

Corradi said officials from Carrefour had met with representatives from Al Quds and had “reacted with enthusiasm” to the new line. However, it was too soon to tell whether the French company would buy more.

“Let’s say we’re on the right path,” Corradi said.

Carrefour said they did not intend to market the jeans exclusively to Muslims.

“We thought the (model) had an excellent quality-price ratio,” said Sonia Augenti, a spokeswoman for Carrefour in Italy. “We target everyone. We do not have a political or religious connotation.”

Corradi said the idea for the jeans first came to his friend Giorgio Lotta — a businessman who had never worked in fashion — about a year ago, when he spotted a picture in a newspaper of a sea of jeans-clad Muslims bent down in prayer.

Lotta, now president of Al-Quds, studied the market for about a month and concluded there were no jeans designed to keep Muslims comfortable while they pray.

Corradi said the jeans are manufactured at a plant near Karachi, Pakistan that employs about 15,000 people.

“I wanted to respect (the fact) that if these are the first jeans for Islam, they should be built by Muslim hands,” he said.

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Just one question, didnt Hip Hop start the whole baggy jeans thing??

But to be honest, I think this whole religious marketing is GOOD money! Religious stocks, religious tourism, religious banking, religious food, and now religious clothing!

What’s next?

This is something that annoys the hell out of me! Restaurants that have and enforce a minimum charge policy at all times!

We were talking about that the other day while deciding to go to a place for coffee. Someone mentioned that we can’t go there since they have a minimum charge policy!

Ok, I can understand minimum charge back in the day when Fridays used to be full with 50 people waiting in line and most people there are big groups of kids! This way the restaurant is not losing any business since its packed anyway and they guarantee that people who want to eat will get seats instead of the 5 people tagging along in the 7 people group who are just there to look at others! Even in that case, I remember they used to be flexible about it!

On the other hand, you have places like Villa Fairouz, Hangout Lounge, and Astra Lounge that enforce a minimum charge policy at all times! Go to villa fairouz anytime during the day and its empty, only on weekend nights does it get packed, while the other two places mentioned are almost always empty anyway! Why the hell would a place like Astra Lounge have a minimum charge policy of 2.5 KD when the place is ALWAYS empty?! At most it has 3 or 4 people not more! I remember once going there with a group of 15 people, and not everyone wanted to order, but they still forced us to have a minimum charge for each person!!! Obviously, we were all angry about it and havent been there since!

Instead of being rational and serving 10 out of the 15, they lost 15 customers for good! The place was freakin empty!!! Noone else was there but us! Idiots I swear! Not only did they lose out on around 30 KD, but they lost customers! Bad business!

Same with Villa Fairouz! Apparently they started the same concept! My friend was telling me that he went there with another friend during the day, around 3 pm, and ordered sheesha and coffee. The waiter asked if they wanted anything else, they said no, so he said sorry there is a minimum charge of 7.5 KD!!! 3 pm on a weekday, the place is deserted!! Again these 2 people couldnt help but laugh about it and leave and decided not to come back again!

Why do we have so many idiots in charge of businesses?? The concept of customer service is nonexistant with some people! I understand if you want to have the minimum charge policy, but use your freaking brains in applying it!

I thought this was really funny and interesting! In Paris, prostitutes went on a riot demanding more rights and freedom!

Check it out from AlQabas -

بائعات الهوى الفرنسيات يهددن بالعصيان المدني

LOL! A7la shay ilmi3allima Nikita!
But to be honest they do have a point, why would the government keep stopping them from doing their job, but then tax them for their job!?
I also love the fact they will protest by stopping prostitution! They know that the men wont be happy!

Check this out!

Very funny! Very creative!

A friend of mine showed me this earlier today.

Its an ad from Taiwan I think, and if you watch it, you will see how similar it is to the Wataniya ad used last Ramadan!

I remember everyone liked that ad (the first million times it was on), and rightfullly so! So I really hope that it wasn’t a ripoff from this Asian ad!! There are three options -

• The Wataniya ad was copied form the Asian one by whatever agency it was (please tell me which one if you do know)!
• There is the possibility that both ads are similar by coincidence, although I doubt 2 commercials about telecom with someone using the phone and walking on a red carpet that keeps unrolling and visiting different places can be a coincidence!
• There is also the chance that the Asian ad was taken from the Wataniya ad! Its a very small possibility but its something to consider nevertheless!

Anyway, watch it and judge for yourself! Its not that clear but still worth watching -

Following my article about the market crash effects, the have been a few related things published in AlQabas!

In today’s paper, there is a whole interview with Dr. Adnan AlShatti, a psychiatrist who discusses the effects of the market on everyday people!

In yesterday’s newspaper, this funny ad made my day!

More to come in the next few days im sure! Come to think of it, maybe its the same Dr. who put the ad!

For some reason, when I tried to switch from blogger to wordpress, things started going wrong!

This whole post is a test, I wanna try a few different things….

My old website, Kuwaitism at blogspot is not working after the switch!